Posts Tagged ‘VA’

Some Republican Presidential candidates love to say how much they support veterans, but they lose credibility when they go after the Veterans Administration.

Michelle Bachman, for instance, proposes $4.5 billion dollars in cuts to the Veterans Administration. And Mitt Romney wants to kill the VA altogether and replace it with a voucher system.

The VA — with it’s so-called socialized medicine — has long been a target of Republican wrath. It is the largest integrated health care system in the country. And it works. With its 153 hospitals, more than180,000 employees, and hundreds of clinics, nursing homes, counseling and rehabilitation centers, the VA is an engine of progress in a bleak landscape of health care dysfunction.

The VA, not surprisingly excels in the treatment of combat-related physical and psychic trauma, like Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD.

But it also provides superior care in such areas as treatment of diabetes and heart disease, among many others.

And the VA has successfully tackled the vexing and costly problem of hospital-acquired infections like MRSA — methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The Pittsburgh VA implemented an anti-MRSA program, which included surveillance of employees, contact precautions, hand hygiene, and institutional culture change. The incidence of MRSA dropped precipitously.

Because the VA is a system, what worked in one facility was easily rolled out to all 153 of its hospitals. All patients admitted to a VA acute care hospital were tested for MRSA. Patients who were positive were then isolated. More importantly, all employees were convinced to do something only about 50 percent actually were doing — which is washing their hands after each patient contact.

Dr.Rajiv Jain and infection control nurses like Kathy Risa encouraged culture change by making infection-control everyone’s business. Between October 2007 and June 2010, rates of health care-associated MRSA infections in the VA’s intensive care units decreased by 62 percent and in non-intensive care units by 45 percent. This occurred at a time when MRSA rates were rising in other hospitals.

Destroying the VA would not only deprive veterans of excellent care, it would also deprive all Americans of innovative models of high quality, cost-effective care.

Republicans like Michelle Bachman and Mitt Romney don’t like the VA because it demonstrates that government-run health care can be successful.

Rather than change their theories, they ignore these facts. And they seem willing to monkey with what even Newt Gingrich recently called a “model” and “a very impressive institution.”

Veterans deserve to know that their government-run health care will be there when they need it. That’s the least we can do for them.

Suzanne Gordon is the co-editor of the Culture and Politics of Health Care Work Series at Cornell University Press. She can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.

Yesterday, President-elect Barack Obama named ret. Army Gen. Eric Shinseki as his Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), promising “the kind of VA that will serve our veterans as well as they have served us.” Shinseki will face one of the country’s most daunting tasks: managing an institution already plagued by backlogs, scandals, and inadequate resources, and is increasingly taxed by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the press conference, Shinseki spoke directly to veterans: “If confirmed, I will work each and every day to ensure that we are serving you as well as you have served us. We will pursue a 21st-century VA that serves your needs.” The nomination of the first Asian-American to the post — Shinseki, a Japanese-American, grew up in Hawaii — carried extra poignancy coming on the 67th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks. Military officials and some veterans organizations immediately praised Obama’s announcement. Former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell called Shinseki “an inspired selection.” “He is a man that has always put patriotism ahead of politics, and is held in high regard by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan,” read a statement by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Continue reading →

Sourced from DAILY KOS by David Harris Gershon I don’t want to hear another word about GOP lawmakers chest-thumping and foaming-at-the-mouth about the fact that Obama traded, without the requisite 30-day notice to Congress, five indefinitely detained prisoners for the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. You know why? Because history: In 1985, while Iran and […] […]

Sourced from AlterNet CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY AND WORKPLACE By Bill Moyers 10 Disgustingly Rich Companies That Will Do Anything To Avoid Paying Taxes NEW YORK CITY – NOVEMBER 22, 2013: FedEx van delivering in downtown Manhattan. The name “FedEx” is the short version of the company original air division, Federal Express, which was used until […]

Sourced from Campaign for America’s Future MAY 28, 2014 by ROBERT BOROSAGE A powerful new populist challenge is emerging from the reality of an economy that is not working for working people. It is expressed not by the Koch-funded, rabidly anti-government Tea Party, but by the new populists, inside and outside the Democratic Party. Sen. […]

sourced from dailykos.com by Lafeministafollow May 8, 2014 Bang on the money if you ask me The Republican Party whilst doing nothing for the nation have decided a fun way to do less than nothing and with complete disregard to any costs incurred. On the kangaroo court Republicans vying for a seat on the Benghazi […]

Sourced from AlterNet.org The Guardian / By Dan Roberts Photo Credit: Lev Radin / Shutterstock A new gun control campaign backed by $50m from former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged on Wednesday to focus its efforts outside Washington, claiming to be the first nationwide movement to rival the National Rifle Association. Despite initial attention […] […]

Sourced from AlterNet.com Cliff Weathers, AlterNet Koch Brothers Wealth Surges Past $100 Billion as They Try to Buy the Senate With Expensive Lies Photo Credit: Graphic by Rachel Dooley. Copyright In These Times magazine. All rights reserved. The wealth of the Koch Brothers has surged past $100 billion dollars, a boost of $1.3 billion to their […]

Sourced from wapo.com BY CHRISTOPHER INGRAHAM April 17 UnitedHealth Group said it’s likely to join more Obamacare exchanges in 2015.(Photo by Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images) After taking a pretty cautious approach to the launch of the health insurance marketplaces in 2014, the nation’s largest insurer said it’s looking to expand its Obamacare footprint in 201 […]

Sourrced from DailyKos.com ArkshepFollowRSS WED APR 09, 2014 AT 07:03 AM PDT In a real life example of how Obamacare is changing everything, our local newspaper ran an article about the closing of the 9th Street Ministry Medical Clinic. “It was announced last week that 9th Street Ministries will be concluding their medical clinic mission, […]

Sourced from:OurFuture.com By Dave Johnson APRIL 4, 2014 It doesn’t matter what Friday’s report of the March job numbers shows. If you listed our national problems in order of priority and immediacy, jobs has to be at or near the top. While America’s political, media and business elites are all doing fine in their personal […]